Car-coupling



(No Model.) 4Sheets-Sheet 1.

A. E. MITCHELL.

CAR GOUPLING.

4,989A Patented Deo. 20, 1887.

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in /zUe/zi'on [d Il 0 1. y (miwww (No Model.) 4 sheets-sheen 2.

. A. E. MITCHELL.

GAR GOUPLING.

Patented Deo. 20,'1887.

4 Sheets- Sheet 3.

A.. E. MITCHELL.

GAR GOUPLING.

Patentedneo.zo,1a87.

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ii I

4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

(No Model.) E A. E. MITCHELL.

GAR GOUPLING. No. 374,989. Patented Deo. 20,'1887.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT E. MITCHELL, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE WILKlNS LOCOMOTIVE CAR COUPLER COMPANY, OF KITTERY, MAINE.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 374,989, dated December 2Ol 1887.

Application filed July 14,1884. Serial No. 137,688. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, ALBERT E. MITCHELL, of Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain Improvements in Couplers for Locomotive Engine Tenders, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is an improvement upon the well-known Miller couplelgwhich is described in certain patents granted to Ezra Miller, as follows: No. 38,057, March 3l, 1863; No. 46,126, January 8l, 1865; No. 56,594, July 24, 1866.

The object of Millers invention, as set forth more particularly in his Patent No. 38,057, is to effect the automatic coupling of the cars together and their uncoupling without the necessity of the brakeman going between the platforms of the cars, the invention being automatic in its character.

Briefly considered, Millers invention consists of two horizontal coupling-hooks, ,one being arranged at each end of a car, &c., the hooks having such relation to each other that the hook on one end of the car will couple with the hook of any other car on the bringing of the two cars together. A spring is used with eachrcoupling-hook, which yields as the hooks couple and afterward forms a stop to prevent their displacement. Buffer-boxes are dispensed with. The uncoupling of the cars is effected by the employment of devices eX- tending above the hooks within reach of the brakeman. Itis therefore unnecessary for him to go between the platforms to effect the uncoupling.

In Patent No. 46,126 are described means 'for connecting a car having the coupling-hook described in Patent No. 88,057 with a car or locomotive having any ordinary coupling contrivance applied to it.

ln Patent No. 56,594c one object of the invention is to prevent the crushing or giving away of car-platforms in the event of collision between trains, and also to so strengthen the platforms that they shall be capable of resisting the sudden shocks to which they are subjected, by locating the bufferbeam and its supporting -timbers in or nearly in a plane with the sill-beam and longitudinal timbers of the car-bed, and employing in conjunction with such elevated platform a system of trusscd braces,which are so applied as to tie the platform rmly to the car-bed, and also to sustain it against upward or downward strain. Another object is to prevent the sudden and injurious jerks and eoncussions of cars in starting or stopping a train by the employment of centrally-arranged spring couplings and buffers in such manner that these parts are under constant tension or compression when the cars are coupled together and the buffer-heads are brought in contact with each other, thus forming a continuous connection of all the cars in a train.

The object of myinvention is to appropriate in a newly-organized structure all the advantages which have long attended the use of the Miller coupler, and to so improve the construction in its application to engine-tenders as to effect a proper coupling both when the engine-tender frame is the same height as the car-frame or is too low to admit of the hook passing under the end sill.

Another object is to further improve the construction, whereby to add to its simplicity and effective working and to simplify and render more effective the uncoupling mechanism. v

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of my invention. Fig. 2 isaside elevation thereof. Fig. 3 is a sectional plan through the center of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a front elevation. Figs. 5 to 3l, inclusive, are details.

Similar letters of reference indicate similar parts in the respective figures.

A represents the bumper ou the rear of the tender or the back end sill of the tenderfra1ne. To the bumper is bolted a buffer-casting, B, a front view of which is shown in Fig. 14, on which is a shelf or flange, a, provided with ribs a', the iiange a passing under the bumper A to give additional strength to the device. On this casting a horn, b, projects upward and outward to press against the buffer-plate on the first car or coach when coupled to the train. On each side of this horn is an arm, the arms being marked c c', respectively, and each projecting outward.

The arm c holds in Ico place the striking-guard C through the medium of thearm k and bolt k', and the other arm, e', in connection with therst mentioned, by the bolt i and thimble-pipe i', Figs. 27 and 28, secures in place the plate H. (Shown in Figs. 11, 12, and 13.) TheplateH inturnsupports the hook D, which is pivoted upon the bolt D, the bolt Dpassing through the holes d, formed within the projections d* of the casting B and the plate H. (See Figs. 7, S, 9, 10, and 11.) For detailed views of the buffereasting see Figs. 7, 8, 9, and 10, 7 being a side View, 8 a plan, 9 a vertical section, and 10 a transverse section on the line x .t of Fig. 9. For detailed views of the hook D see Figs. and 6, 5 being a top view, and 6 a front view.

On the plate H are bolted or riveted two blocking-pieces, c c, (see Figs. 11 and 12,) on which the hook D rests. rlhe hook D is made of the proper shape at one end to couple with the Miller'hook on cars, and at the other end is formed with an arm, D', which indirectly attaches to the end of a spring, D. (Shown in detail in Fig. 18.) The attachment of the spring D to the hook D and the striking-guard C, which latter is shown in detail in Figs. 15, 16, and 17, is effected by the following devices: One end ofthe spring is supported by means of lugs d"',cast upon the side of the guard. The connection between the spring and the lugs d of the strikingguard is effected through the medium of thev collar or thimble g and screws g', (see Fig. 24,) the screw end of the spindle c passing through the thimble, as shown in Fig. 3. The spindle cis shown in detailin Fig. 23, and runs through the spring to prevent its being thrown out of a straight line when strained. The end of the spring which presses against the arm D of the hook is connected to the said arm by asimilar collar, g, which slips loosely upon the stem e, the screws g passing through lugs d, Fig. 5, of the plates c?, attached to the 4arm D of the hook. (See Fig. 2.)

The collar or thimble and its screws are shown in detail in Fig. 25. Avertical roekshaft, G, (see Fig. 29,) passes through lugs h h 7L, formed upon the casting B, (see Figs. 2, 7, 8, and 10,)and an arm, G', (shown in detail in Fig. 20,)is placed at the upper end of the rockshaft, connecting through the link L, Fig. 19, with Athe leverf, Fig..22, by a pin,f, Fig. 30. The lever has its fulcruni on the boltf, Fig. 3l, which passes through the lug f of the casting D.V (See Figs. l, 2, and 14.) An arm, f4, (see Fig. 21,) is attached to the lower end of the rock-shaft G, the arm f t being arranged to bear against the upper screw, g,of the collar g" at that end of the spring Dl which is contiguous to the arm D of the hook D.

It will be seen that by throwing the leverf from the position shown in full lines in Fig. 4. to the position shown in dotted lines in the same figure the arm jAL will be forced against the screw-bolt g and slip the collar g upon the spindle, and thus compress the spring D, whereupon the hook D, through the medium of the connection between the collar g and the arm D of the hook, will be thrown from the position shown in full lines in Fig. 3 to the position shown in the same figure in dotted lines, which latter position is that which it assumes when unlocked from the hook of the adjacent car. The slotZ in the arinL, Fig. 19, through which the boltf runs, allows the throw of the lever from the position shown in full to that shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3. J, Fig. 3, represents the position of the strikingguard on the Jirst coach behind the enginetender when coupled.

The bolts O 0, Figs. l and 2, secure the device in place,`and may or may not pass through the entire length of the tender-frame.

A buffer-plate and buffer-spring connected t0 the casting B can be used to come in contact with the buffer-plate on carsinstead of the horn shown, if desired.

The spring D" can be placed, il desired, in front of the end sill and bearing against it or an iron secured to it, and can be either spiral, elliptic, or flat, as shown at M and S, Figs. 1 and 3, with an eyebolt running through said spring andV secured to the end of the couplinghook at P by a bolt, and having a shoulder on the end N of the eycbolt, so that the spring will be compressed when the hook is uncoupled. The uncoupliug can be done by pulling backward on the end N of the-eyebolt either by a lever, chain, or link, or by a common brakeshaft and wheel with chainconnect-ion, thus doing away with the lugs 71y h h on the horn-casting B, lugs d on 'the strikingguard casting C, and the parts shown in Figs.V 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 30, and 31. This device may also be made movable or portable, so that it can be applied to drawcastings on freightengines without the removalv of the same.

It will be seen that by arching forward the horn Z) of the casting B the said part of the casting takes the concussion of the cars during t-he act of coupling, and that by cutting out the supporting-plate H, as shown particularlyin Figs. 1, 3, and 11, the hook of any car may be allowed to move up and down without striking it.

Having described my invention, I claim- 1. A hook held normally in the coupled position by means of a spring, combined with a buffercasting having a shelf and arching up to come in contact with and receive-the blow from the bufferplate on the end sill or platform of a connecting car, substantially as setforth.

2. A hook having a pivotal movement in a horizontal plane and having a spring to keep it normally iu the locked position, and a buffer-casting or a bufferplate and spring in a plane above that occupied bythe said hook, combined with a system of levers, or their equivalent, for uncoupliug the hook by thrusting against the hook, spring, or eyebolt, sub- Sta-ntially as set forth.

3. In a coupling device, a casting having IIO a horn arching upward and forward, and further having supports for a rock-shaft or bolt which serves as the pivot for the uncoupling arm or lever, substantially as set forth.

4. In a coupling device, a buffer casting having a shelf and a portion arched upward and forward to receive the blow of the connecting car, combined with a buffer-plate, with or without buffer spring, and a spring coupling-hook, substantially as set forth.

5. The hook D, supported upon its pivot D and having the arm D', combined with the striking-guard C and compressiblc spring D, Substantially as set forth.

6. The hook D, supported upon its pivot Dl and having the arm D', combined with the striking-guard C and compressible spring D through the medium of collars or thimbles and screws and a spindle, substantially as set forth.

7. The combination, with the hook D and striking-guard C, of the compressible spring D", mounted upon a spindle, and a system of levers and arms for forcing the hook back upon its pivot from the locked to the unlocked position, and thereupon sliding and compressing said spring upon its spindle, substantially as set forth. y

8. The combination, with the casting B, of

the rock-shaft g, arm fgmounted thereon', piv- 3o v oted spring-hook D D', and a system of levers, whereby the arm f4 is forced against the hook and spring, thereupon nnconpling said hook, substantially as set forth.

9. The combination of the casting B, lever f, slotted link L, arm G', rock-shaft G, arm f4, and bolt-connections, substantially as set forth 10. The combination of the spring D, spindie e, collars g g, and bolts g g", conjointly applied as a spring attachment to a couplerhook, substantially as set forth.

11. The plate H, placed below the coupling-hook, said platel being cut outto allow the hook from a car to move up and down without striking it, said plate being secured to the buffer-casting and supporting the coupling-hook and striking-guard C, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 30th day of June, A. D. 1884.

ALBERT E. MITCHELL.

Witnesses:

C. L. LATIMER, Ross KELLs. 

